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| Mountain biking on the Tequila Trail near Oaxaca, Mexico - Trevor Clark |
Mountain Biking is Rare in Oaxaca - but not for long.
IT WAS EARLY. Hours from sunrise kind of early. My wimpy
headlamp struggled to break through the predawn drizzle, and I could
barely see my front tire or the trail ahead. Roots, rocks and stumps all
seemed to be in cahoots, working together to upend me.
I tried to become one with the bike. I tried to feel out the trail
with my other senses. I tried to anticipate obstacles, but I am no Zen
master. My mountain biking skills are rough under the best conditions,
and I was in the jungle in the dark.
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| Riding out of the village of Benito Juárez - Trevor Clark |
My mate's more powerful headlamp
suddenly provided a snapshot of a sharp turn and a wooden footbridge
ahead. Then, lights out. I made an educated guess, went straight and
took a hit that emptied my lungs: "Huhhhhh!" Cold water rushed into my
clothes and pack as I lay in the stream, bike still on my feet, straight
up in the air.
For a few moments, I laughed
hysterically at my predicament and the fact that I was OK after missing
the bridge. Then I picked myself up and kept moving.
We made it to the peak of Piedra
Larga, a 10,761-foot-high lookout, for breakfast, corn-based hot
chocolate and sunrise. As the sun slowly emerged from a thick layer of
fog, we found ourselves hovering above a golden sea of clouds. The
scenery was worth every blind pedal stroke.
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| The view from a rock spire in the Sierra - Trevor Clark |
Seven of us had come to the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, Mexico, a
forested mountain range in the northern part of the state. Oaxaca is
known as the country's culinary and cultural center, and many visitors
experience it through cooking classes and gallery walks in the capital
city. We, instead, were mountain-biking part of an ancient Zapotec
network of walking trails that have connected eight villages to each
other and the rest of the world for eons.
Mountain biking is fairly new to
Mexico and few people, even in the biking world, have explored its
potential. But for the past 15 years, those eight villages have been
working to create an environment where adventure tourism can thrive,
sharing responsibility for and income from the efforts. Considering the
fact that they had to breed their own mountain-bike guide, it is little
surprise that things have taken a while to get off the ground.
“What followed was perhaps the best mountain biking I have ever done. There was no backing out, no second-guessing and no stopping.”
I was
with a tour company looking into new mountain-biking trips. For five
days, we wound our way through fields, along mountain ridges, up dirt
roads and down steep, narrow corridors through thick forest. We dodged
cows and plants with knuckle-piercing thorns, tipping our helmets with a
big "Hola!" as we rolled through each village. The area offers more
than 70 miles of one-lane trails (or singletrack, as it is known in
mountain biking) stomped into perfect biking paths over countless years,
and the opportunities seemed endless.
We arrived via van from the vibrant
city of Oaxaca, riding along pothole-strewn arteries. We unloaded, a
little carsick, in Benito Juárez, a pint-size village perched on the
edge of the very steep road. The mountain air was crisp and refreshing,
but the elevation made breathing laborious. A crowd of villagers quickly
gathered around our wobbly group of Lycra-wearing gringos. We looked
funny, but all that seemed to matter was that we were visitors, and were
welcome.
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| Summit of Piedra Larga 10,761 feet - Trevor Clark |
We rolled our bikes out of the trailer; in short order chains were
lubed, adjustments were made and we were clicking in. We sped into the
woods for a two-hour ride to the village of Llano Grande, where we would
be based for the rest of our visit. We cruised through the mountainous
jungle, smiling, laughing and pointing out trees and plants that could
have inspired Dr. Seuss's books. We were so giggly that when we came
across a carnivorous-looking cactus as big as our van, we all lost it
and belly-laughed like little kids.
We rolled into Llano Grande as the sky
turned dark, met up with our luggage-laden van and were shown to our
accommodations. I was expecting a leaky hut, but a local ushered me into
the warm, cedar-scented cabin and flipped on the light. There was a
fire crackling in the fireplace; the water heater had already been
primed.
Dinner was served in a small
cinder-block building that doubled as the village store. Blue paint on
the outside read, "Todo con medida." Roughly translated: "Everything in
moderation." The cook's young children raced an old tricycle in and out
of doorways and around our bags, occasionally hitting our outstretched
feet. Food filled the table—and our stomachs. Beans, chicken, salsa,
corn tortillas, Oaxacan cheese and fiery mezcal. Todo con medida, not so
much.
Our guide was José Luis Marco, the
19-year-old grandson of the village elder, Adelfo, who has been heading
up the tourism project since its inception. Even with an inferior bike
and slick tires, José had no problem smoking us like we were on training
wheels. Each day he led us through new sections of trail, stopping in
different villages for lunch and sometimes a little sightseeing. Each
night, we hung out in the only spot in town.
Late one afternoon, we were working our way up to a ridge that
promised the best downhill stretch of singletrack of the trip, maybe in
all of Mexico. It had been hyped for days: steep, daring and
unpredictable.
It was raining. No surprise, as it
rained every afternoon, but on this day the rain fell without pause. As
my legs pushed and my lungs strained for a decent breath, all I could
think about was the hazardous Mexican practice of using tortillas as
utensils. A post-lunch siesta would have been more appropriate for my
starch-filled belly than a steep, soggy bike ride.
Stroke after gut-wrenching stroke, we
reached the height of the climb. Relief, excitement and nervous
anticipation emerged as we looked around into the eerie abyss of fog and
leafless trees below. Though we couldn't quite see it, we knew from the
angle on each side of our bikes that the ground dropped off into
nothingness. Before us a faint trail led into the same nothingness.
The phrase pierced the silence in a
serious, matter-of-fact monotone. The riders ahead of me disappeared one
by one into the fog.
Minutes ticked on like hours as I
waited in the lonely white silence for a sign that we weren't going off a
cliff. Then: "Aaaahhahahahaha, yeah!!!!"
The path ahead was steep, but it led somewhere—and that somewhere sounded fun.
What followed was perhaps the best
mountain biking I have ever done. The only word for it is "committed."
There was no backing out, no second-guessing and no stopping.
Millimeters from losing my manhood to the teeth of my back tire while
dodging low branches and threading through suspended fallen trees, I was
on a magical tear down the mountain.
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| Cycling through a village - Trevor Clark |
I had finally found The Force, that place where practice, physical
conditioning, environmental awareness and mental stamina come together.
It is a place where things just happen. You become the action, moving
without thought or hesitation. For a grand instant, I was in sync with the environment I was passing through and it was in sync with me.
As we descended further into the fog
and rainy saturation of lower elevation, the trail turned into really
wet clay. It felt like a layer of Jell-O. Semi-controlled sliding became
the name of the game, but nobody was backing off.
Our hard concentration turned into
wide eyes and whooping grins. We wobbled around corners on the precipice
of disaster. Giddy laughter turned into competitive jabs and before
long, we were all flying like rag dolls into the woods. Lying in the mud
having gone from out-of-control biking to uncontrollable laughter was
the highlight of the entire trip.
Very interesting and great article!
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